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Mackenthun’s Wins National Merchandising Contest

Supervalu’s 'Beef Stampede' drew hundreds of entries nationwide

February 25, 2014, 07:00 pm

Family-owned independent Mackenthun’s Fine Foods, Waconia, Minn., has been named the winner of Supervalu’s national “Beef Stampede” contest, an annual month-long in-store grocery merchandising program designed to showcase beef as a dinner plate staple.

The contest recognizes the best “Beef Stampede” campaign from among hundreds of participating stores across Supervalu’s nationwide independent business network. Participants were judged on total sales, product display, creativity and integration across the store.

“From tailgating to crockpots and everything in between, beef is a very important product to consumers, and this contest was designed to create customer excitement in the stores of our independent retail partners,” said Greg Opsal, director of meat and seafood merchandising for Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Supervalu’s Northern Region. “It’s safe to say Mackenthun’s created excitement in spades. Mackenthun’s creativity set them apart from the field when it came to beef sales and customer engagement, and we congratulate them on winning this national contest.”

Mackenthun’s winning campaign included supporting Nickle Dickle Day in Waconia, donating hamburgers to the Waconia High School homecoming, a children’s coloring contest, a chili cook-off and an in-store demonstration that featured an educational session by the National Beef Council’s Minnesota chapter. This is the fourth time Mackenthun’s has won a national beef merchandising award, which Mackenthun’s co-owner Jessa Theis credited to the grocer’s great team member involvement.

“At Mackenthun’s, we love doing events and being involved in the community,” Theis said. “It makes what some would call ‘work’ truly fun for us.”

In addition to this beef merchandising award, Mackenthun’s produce department was named the Minnesota Grown Retailer of the Year for each of the past two years by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

Mackenthun’s Fine Foods, which first opened in 1917, is operated by fourth- and fifth-generation family members Kim Mackenthun, Jaime Mackenthun and Jessa Theis.